Ministry of Jal Shakti
Monitoring of Ground Water Level
Central Ground Water Board  is periodically monitoring the ground water levels throughout the Country on a regional scale, through a network of monitoring wells. Analysis of water level data indicates that about 68% of the wells monitored have depth to water level upto 5.0 m below ground level. The deeper ground water level  has also been observed in isolated pockets of some of the States/UTs. State-wise Depth to water level and distribution of percentage of wells for November 2020 is given in Annexure.
 &  Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including conservation & water harvesting in the Country is primarily States’ responsibility. However, the important measures taken by the Central Government for conservation, management of ground water and effective implementation of rain water harvesting in the country are available at the following URL:
http://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Steps_to_control_water_depletion_Feb2021.pdf.
Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Groundwater- 2020 has been prepared by CGWB in consultation with States/UTs which is a macro level plan indicating various structures for the different terrain conditions of the country including estimated cost. The Master Plan envisages construction of about 1.06 crore roof top rain water harvesting structures in the urban areas of the Country on the basis of roof area & rainfall in the respective regions with an estimated cost of about Rs.36794.00 crores.
Government of India launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan  in 2019, a time bound campaign with a mission mode approach intended to improve water availability including ground water conditions in the water stressed blocks of 256 districts in India. In this regard, teams of officers from Central Government along-with technical officers from Ministry of Jal Shakti were deputed to visit water stressed districts and to work in close collaboration with district level officials to undertake suitable interventions.
In addition, Ministry of Jal Shakti has taken up the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain”  with the theme “Catch the Rain - Where it Falls When it Falls” to cover all the blocks of all districts  across the country during 22nd March 2021 to 30th November 2021. The campaign was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 22 March 2021.
Central Government supports construction of water harvesting and conservation works primarily through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme . To improve productivity of lands of house-holds, farm ponds, dug wells and other watershed activities are permitted under MGNREGS.
As per information received from Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs , the Model Building Bye Laws , 2016, has been issued for guidance of the States/UTs which has a chapter on ‘Rainwater Harvesting’. The provisions of this chapter are applicable to all the buildings. 33 States / UTs have adopted the rainwater harvesting provisions. The implementation of the rainwater harvesting policy comes within the purview of the State Government/Urban Local Body / Urban Development Authority. Further, as per MBBL- 2016, provision of rainwater harvesting is applicable to all residential plots above 100 sq.m.
This Ministry has issued guidelines for control and regulation of groundwater extraction with pan-India applicability notified on 24 September 2020. The guidelines require submission of proposal for rain water harvesting/recharge within the premises as per Model Building Bye Laws issued by MoH&UA in respect of Residential apartments/Group housing societies etc in urban areas along-with the application for No Objection Certificate .
Ministry has circulated a Model Bill to all the States/UTs to enable them to enact suitable ground water legislation for regulation of its development, which also includes provision of rain water harvesting. So far, 19 States/UTs have adopted and implemented the ground water legislation.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Food Processing Industries, ShriPrahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in the LokSabha today.